Willie Speaks at Ed School Celebration

Educators should focus on improving rather than criticizing the nation's system of public education, Professor of Education and Urban Studies Charles V. Willie told more than 200 alumni, faculty members, educators and students yesterday at the opening of the Graduate School of Education's centennial celebration.

The standing-room-only crowd that packed into the Gutman Conference Center gave Willie a standing ovation, as he praised educators who "are not afraid to bring us good news."

In our society, Willie said, "the bearer of bad news tends to be honored, while the bearer of good news tends to be ignored."

Bad and Good News

"I am not against bad news, but I want good news too," Willie said. He observed that news stories such as recent reports of lower Scholastic Aptitude Test scores serve to "undercut hope that is required for educational reform."

But Willie added that it is necessary to look at the positive and the negative in order to see the whole picture.